Amazon's Twitch opens its digital storefront

Amazon-owned video streaming platform Twitch has officially opened the doors of its own software store, announcing an initial library of around 50 titles and their associated downloadable content.

Originally tipped for acquisition by Google then gazumped by Amazon, Twitch targets the gaming market with the ability to live-stream gameplay footage and webcam overlays from PCs and consoles. Now, the company is looking to work with Amazon's retail experience to break into the digital distribution market and has opened an official storefront with a revenue-sharing model that will allow selected streamers to earn five percent of games sales driven from their streams.

Launched today as a US exclusive and expanding over the coming week, Twitch claims the initial library will total around 50 games plus in-game content, including Ubisoft's For Honor [sic] and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Telltale Games' The Walking Dead and Minecraft: Story Mode, Hi-Rez Studios' Smite and Paladins, Paradox Interactive's Tyranny, Trion Worlds' Atlas Reactor, Double Fine Productions' Broken Age and Psychonauts, Campo Santo's Firewatch, Jackbox Games' Jackbox Party Pack 3, and Digital Extremes' Warframe - in other words, some, but far from all, of the most popular games for streaming on the site.

To differentiate it from rivals like Steam, Twitch's storefront will rely on the streamers themselves as a marketing tool in the hope that someone watching a Let's Play of For Honor - as an example - might be tempted to click through and purchase the game themselves. If they do so, a five percent cut of the proceeds will be shared with the streamer responsible for driving the sale - though this only applies to members of the Twitch Partner programme who have opted in to the commerce programme. As a reward for those actually spending money, anyone buying a game or DLC costing more than $4.99 will receive a free Twitch Crate with randomly-selected Twitch micro-transaction rewards.

More details on the service are available on the official announcement. The company has not yet announced a timescale for international availability.